I’ve shared before on Instagram how many times I’ve cried trying to learn new-to-me real food techniques. Most of the tears weren’t even in the midst of it, it was just the anticipation of trying something new that required a box of kleenex.

I’m naturally a very lazy person. Give me a bag of chips and a book and I’m good to go. I have to fight the temptation daily and move, move, move. I also hate change – I hate that technology keeps improving – I’m the grandma that can’t keep up with it. I bugs me when Andrew takes a different route to get somewhere we’ve driven to, the same way, a million times. I drives me crazy when a store is out my tried and true [fill in the blank] and I have to improvise with something else.

So take a lazy person who hates change, and you end up with someone who doesn’t want to try something as intimidating as whey. I’m thankful to God for the pressure our health has put on me to force me to learn to get off my butt, be disciplined with my time, and take on new things. But each time I need to learn something new, I often curl up in the fetal position, totally intimated, and hope that I’ll wake up in the morning with boxes and jars of processed food in my kitchen that are magically incredible for my health.

It hasn’t happened yet.

So I get up off the couch and onto the computer to watch another YouTube tutorial or stick my nose in a book to read another version of the same instructions I’ve already read on 4 different blogs, just to be sure I understand what I’m about to do.

The funny thing is, each time I finally take something on, it’s laughable how easy it ended up being. Like whey, for example. I procrastinated fermenting for a long time because so many recipes I wanted to try called for it. Wanna know how to make whey? Leave a jar of raw milk in your fridge. The end.

directions:

Slow version – leave the jar of raw milk in your fridge until the curds and whey separate. Can take weeks. The whey is translucent; If separation occurs but it’s all still white, keep waiting. [I haven’t actually read that anywhere, but when I tried to separate it before it was translucent, it was literally milk just pouring through the cheesecloth]

Faster version: Fill the jar 1/3-1/2 full and leave on its side to get maximum exposure to air. Leave on counter until curds and whey separate. Some people say this will happen in a day or two…it took over a week for us. Don’t be freaked out leaving it on the counter – because of pasteurization, store bought milk would be completely rancid, but raw milk is a living thing. It’s full of probiotics and the separation is occurring as the lactose is being eaten up, just like when fermenting milk kefir.

How to Separate the Curds and Whey:

Set the bowl on the counter and drape the tea towel over it. Pour the curds and whey onto the tea towel.

Gather the ends of the towel together and secure with a rubber band. Hook the rubber band onto your kitchen cabinet handle [or some people use a banana ripener], keeping the bowl under the towel to catch the whey as it drips out.

Leave for several hours, until the dripping has stopped.

Pour whey into a mason jar, store in fridge [lasts about 6 months.] Scrape curds into a mason jar, store in fridge.

That’s it! So in case you’re intimidated by new things like I am, just know this might be the easiest thing in the entire world. No need to fear. In fact, funny story, a few days before I decided to make whey, I dumped out an old jar of milk that had separated in the back of the fridge, having no idea it was whey. Surely if I can make whey on accident, you can do it intentionally!

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5 Comments

carrie5011August 27, 2014 @ 7:25 pm

Hi ..I discovered ‘you’ via Instagram and while I no longer have children at home I want to tell you that I give you so much credit for your attitude and approach. You have the humility to listen to your heart as apposed to your ego. Bravo! – and keep up the good work, I sense it is going to prove worthwhile in more ways than one!
Carrie

Great question, sorry I’m so slow to respond, we’ve had some personal things going on lately that have kept me from the blog :-/ You’re right, they are but they don’t have a reaction to butter or fermented dairy, so when we use whey in ferments it doesn’t seem to bother them! <3

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Welcome to Real Food with Kids!

My name is Amber & I'm an Instagramer branching into the blogging world! Why do I cook with my kids? Our culture has become dependent on processed food because no one knows how to cook. No one knows how to cook because no one's teaching the children.
I believe vibrant health is found in a diet based on traditional food so I'm working in my house daily to break the cycle of generations that are clueless in the kitchen!